Highlight of the trip. HAHAHA. CHEESIE SAMURAI !!! (Omg don’t I sound like a burger??)

HomeAway Accommodation

I loooove the second listing! It was also a building from the Meiji Era, which means that it has been over 100 year old, but has been refurbished to mint condition.

This is our room in the attic, very very comfy!

Stair pose lol.

One of the great things about the suburbs of Japan, is getting back in touch with nature. And also surprise guests. Surprise guests are awesome. Or creepy. Depends. Especially when they show up quietly right at your backyard lol.

This little surprise guest called on us early in the morning, politely observing our make up routine. Would you… like some tea? Or orange juice?

I do. Haha.

I cannot emphasize enough how thoughtful our hosts (Onishi san and his wife) were. The first morning we had a traditional Japanese spread. And today it was Western delight on the table.

Uwajima (宇和島)

The third day is rather relaxing. We were going to this small coastal city. A little info on Uwajima on Japan Guide:

Being a coastal city, Uwajima supports a couple of industries related to the sea, such as fishing and pearl cultivating. It is one of the top pearl producers in Japan. Local specialties include Taimeshi (a dish of rice and sea bream) and Jakoten (fish cake). The waterfront around the city offers great coastal scenery. Uwajima is also known for the bull fight events that it stages five times a year.

Ok so we did the pearl cultivating, ate Taimeshi, enjoyed the coastal views but what we did not know, until right this moment after I read up about Uwajima, that there was a Fertility Shrine with a giant penis right alongside the shrine. (no you didn’t read that wrong).

Shrine and… penis?

I didn’t think that I would ever use these two words in the same sentence. That’s totally nuts.

In case you are wondering, it’s real.

And wait, that’s not all.

Apparently, next to the shrine hall stands a museum that showcases the priest’s collection of international and domestic pornographic materials.

Wait what?

Priest? Porn?

Ok this blog post is getting too weird. My apology.

But it is totally real.

But yea. Please do visit this Japanese Penis Shrine that I regrettably did not go.

Tenshaen Garden (天赦園)

We met our guide from Uwajima city and they gave us a welcome gift: a transformation.

Samurai Chiji and Samurai Chanwon.

That thing was so heavy especially the headgear, it was giving us a headache after. We headed to a lovely Japanese garden for an impromptu photo session.

有没有很有威严？ lolol

After that 摇身一变又变回姑娘 HAHAHA. Actually this was really how I was after taking off the amor. I felt like Mulan lolol. Hair bun still got volume, not bad ok!!

This is one of the famed scene of this garden. During spring in April, you will get to see “Nobori-Fuji”, the white wisteria blossoming on the arch.

Flower in season. Can you picture us posing like this, against such sweet background, in our Samurai outfit just now? LOL

Or this.

Or this. HAHAHA

Coastal

Uwajima, despite its Kanji “宇和島”, is not an island. It is though, facing the Bungo Channel that separates Kyushu from Shikoku.

On a day when weather is clear, you can actually see the Kyushu island from Uwajima’s coast.

Looking over Oita Prefecture. The little lines of floating box in the sea is actually seabream farming. Because Uwajima is famous for its Tai (seabream)!!

Yeap! That’s our “Taimeshi”, seabream rice! It’s really simple. You get slices of Tai sashimi, a bowl of warm rice, a raw egg and a small bowl of soy sauce.

You eat it just like TKG (Tamago Kake Gohan), but with fish topping. Yummy!

Uwajima has really beautiful waters.

Our guide brought us here. It was a cafe by the sea. But the cafe was closed. And there wasn’t anything around. But we just sat down here, enjoying the gentle sounds of the sea waves… It was super nice. I’d actually love more itinerary like this.

Uwajima Pearl

Another thing that Uwajima is famous for, is their pearls.

At the Doi Pearl Farm.

If you are interested, you can get a 見学 tour on how Uwajima’s pearls are harvested, and also get a DIY pearl accessory session!

We headed back to Uchiko for dinner at this traditional Japanese restaurant called Kanda. It’s pretty popular among the locals, and it was quite a surprise for us because we totally did not expect the food to look this pretty.

Like, really pretty!!

Tai sashimi with floral headband. That’s all the trend now right? Hahaha.

This chicken dish was so delicious!

Everything must be so colorful and festive.

Shopping

We went back to our HomeAway accommodation early, of course we could not just end our day like that.

When there’s chance for shopping, never miss any. Hahaha.

So we went to a mega drugstore and Chanwon bought her 6 month worth of tooth paste, toilet fragrance, cotton pad and mosquito coils.

Yes I’m not kidding. We visited to a ryokan the day before in Ishidatami, and the ryokan smelled sooo good so I asked the host what kind of incense she was using. She blushed a little and replied, a little embarrassed, “it’s … katori senko(蚊取り線香).” Errr.

This was what I bought from the combini. Meiji “THE Chocolate”. So apparently this is really THE chocolate. Soooo good. I recommend raspberry, gianduja and dark cocoa (70%). Sooooo good. Oh and also Tomica for Junya! They sold Tomica in LAWSON omg!!

That’s all for now. Still got summore ok hahaha. You wait.

If you are planning your holiday soon, do check out HomeAway to book your vacation home.

Hi Cheesie! My husband and I absolutely love Japan, we travelled all the way there from London for our Honeymoon last year but we couldn’t find anywhere that’d do a samurai armor dress up (the only thing we could find were male yukata type things). Is it possible to rent samurai armor in Uwajima if we visited there?

I have just looked it up on the internet, I couldn’t find anything 🙁 The armor was for tourism PR purpose and it so happened just arrived in time for us to try on! If you happen to be there, do visit the tourist center and see if they started rental :)) Good luck!

Aww thanks for looking it up Cheesie I honestly really appreciate it! Okay, we’ll most definitely be headed back to Japan, we’ll try and contact their tourist centre before we go and drop by it as well =)